Quilled Flower Frame 3d Flowers - Clematis Trail

I quilled this 3d flower frame using comb husking, comb leaf quilling and beehive quilling. I wanted to make downward trailing flowers and I thought clematis was ideal.

I have quilled the stems too and everything is made of 3mm strips. Fringed flowers have been used for the center. The petals are comb husked and encircled by a comb leaf . The tutorial for the leaf technique is here . I have just used purple instead of green.

The leaves are beehive quilling encircled in a heart shape.I have used a combination of 3 shades of green at random.

Quilled Picture Portrait Landscape Style - Angelina

As promised here is my Landscape style (quilling by pasting basic shapes) quilled portrait. I followed the same steps but continued to fill in all the spaces with Zig- zag quilled shapes. I call it Angelina coz she reminds me of Angelina Jolie at first glance. I have filled the inner part of the iris in a lighter shade of green and hence it gives it a rounded appearance.
I have also glued a black eyelid to shadow the top of the eyes to make them look a bit hooded.

I am not too happy with the nose. It looks a bit too rounded and I should have made it sharper. Well but nature is not perfect, and that really is the whole beauty of nature.

Quilling Tutorial - Galaxy Centre Quilled Basic Shapes

Today's tutorial is about what those star quillers discover, but never tell you, about making basic shapes with centers that look like the galaxy swirls with unwinding arms, instead of the usual,  boring, spiral centers. This is the technique I discovered while experimenting with basic shapes.  I have been meaning to do this for a while now but never got down to it.

I have never seen any instructions on how to get specific designs at the center of your shapes, so this tutorial is to fill that gap.

  

The first step is of course to get well balanced loose coils. There are several  tips here.

Once you have got good, loose coils, you can create center whirls in 3 ways.

Center Designs

1.        Center remains spiral.

2.       Center is like a teardrop with one side pinched.

 

3.       Center is like a marquee.

 

Once pinched, you will find that each pinched circles will whirl to one side till it gets snagged. So if you want the coils to look good, make sure your initial coil unwinds equidistant .

Making The Shapes

Tear Drop

1. Take a loose coil and pinch the outer coils while you hold the inner coil to the middle between thumb and forefinger of the other hand.

2. Take a loose coil, push the centre coils to the top edge and then pinch them all making sure you only  pinch the top half of the coils so that each coil  is a tear drop. Just push all the coils to the top and pinch between the ball of the thumb and forefinger to the centremost coil. Then push the center coils to the middle and gently twist the swirls to lie on the side. Do not force it.

3. Press the coils in the middle and bring you thumb and forefinger closer towards the top part of the coil. Then allow the coils to unwind and turn to the side. If required gently turn it to the natural side.

 Most of the problems with basic shapes is that they lose the inner design as they continue to wind/unwind, especially if the coils are uneven.  By helping it gain equilibrium you are making sure that they will not change  shape over time. You can add a tad of glue where the coils are snagged .

 

Marquee

1. Adopt the same method as in 1 above, and then whilst still holding the middle coils pinch the bottom outer coils. 

2. Do the same as in 2 above. Push the pinched center coils to the middle and allow them to turn or coax them gently so that they lie naturally to the side creating a whirl (wind it to equilibrium). Than pinch the outer coils at the bottom to form the marquee leaving a few middle coils unpinched.

3. Follow 3 above and make a teardrop, then let it wind and settle or wind it to equilibrium, then hold the center coils in the middle whilst you pinch the outer coils at the bottom.

Triangle

1.  Make a teardrop as in 1. Whilst holding the centre coils with your other hand, flatten the bottom coils and pinch into a triangular shape.

2. Make a teardrop as in 2 and  allow wind to equilibrium  whilst  pushing it to the centre. Whilst holding the centre, pinch the outer coils at the bottom to form a triangle and then gently twist the inner coils in the direction of the wind to give you a nice galactic swirl in the middle.

3. Make a teardrop as in 3 and then follow step 2 above.

Square

1. Whilst holding the inner coils pinch the top and bottom of the outer coils. Then press the two pinched ends between your thumb and forefinger and with the other hand pinch the outer coils of the two sides to make a square then arrange the centre coil in the middle.

2. Make a  marquee as in step 2  . Then press the two pinched ends inwards between thumb and forefinger and pinch the two sides to make a square. Then wind the centre coils to enhance the swirls if required.

3. Make a marquee as in 3 and then follow the instructions in square 2.

Petal

Quilled Picture Portrait of Girl - Graphic Quilling

I quilled a portrait which I called pouting penny and followed it up with quilled Christ portrait for which I used the method I use for landscapes and another Christ portrait for which I used multi strips with which I filled the whole piece.

For this quilled portrait, I tried something slightly different for the hair, as the shape I used for Pouting Penny's hair had spaces in the middle.So I  made Zig-zag circles like in the water for the quilled waterfall landscape.  ( The tutorial for the basic shape are here). I have combined dark shades to get shadows in the hair to create depth. Make sure you use dark colors to create a shadow for the hair that envelopes the face to give the impression that the hair is sitting on top of the face.

What I concentrated on here were the eyes, which I wanted to look lively and I think it turned out very well as it really looks alive.

 I folded the strips zig-zag and then looped it 3/4 of the way instead of making a circle and encircled it twice to make it like a  tear. Then I quilled a small black peg. I allowed the black coil to unwind just a tad so it is easier to shape. I needed it to look like a half circle, so I flattened the top and pasted it into the top of the green tear.

 The pic gives a clear idea of how the eyes are quilled. For the highlight I cut a small white circle (preferably  shiny white paper) and pasted it. Remember the highlight comes from a light source, so it should be placed on the same side in both eyes.  Highlights are most important  in making the eyes light up and give life to the portrait. Dead pan eyes make your piece look like an alien !! Always try quilling the eyes, instead of pasting plastic eyes, as it makes the image more lifelike.

I finished off by graphic quilling the face.

The next post will be my landscape styled portrait.

Quilling Tutorial - Beyond Beehive Technique

Today's quilling technique tutorial is what I discovered when I was using the beehive technique while quilling River Tree quilled landscape.

You can find a video of the beehive technique here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2141r4G-WM .
Susan is the one who came up with this technique but I did not see a tutorial on her site so I have given the above one by Pritesh.

I found that the beehive unwinds easily and when used as a filler in large areas tends to detract from its beauty, however when quilling the above I managed to make it hold its shape. The following are the secrets to success.

1. Smaller sub-coils  look nicer than large sub-coils  as the outer coils start unwinding fast and loose shape making them look more like breaking waves.
2. I usually insert the quilling needle at a length that will allow me to make about 4 to 6 twists (full clockwise turns) for  filling large areas and 3 to 4 twists for filling smaller areas.
3. Equal spaced quilling makes better beehive strips. That is after the first sub-coil which I quill counting the turns, I insert the needle at a distance, slightly less than half the length of the first, as you will be quilling practically double strips for the rest of the way.
4. Stop turning the needle just before the subcoil you are quilling touches the previous one as this will reduce it curling into the other coils.
5. After you quill each sub coil, hold it on the quilling needle for about 3 seconds to reduce it unwinding. This helps it hold the shape better.
6. Arrange the coils in its natural shape. That is if it is coiling then coil it in a circle and insert it into the space to be filled.
7. Glue every sub coil to the backing.
8. Use forceps and arrange the coils and if some have unwound use forceps and wind it back when gluing.
9. When gluing push the coils close to each other. Do not leave too much space.
10. If there are empty spaces quill single sub coils and insert and glue to fill the gaps.
11. Hold each sub-coil down till it is stuck to the backing. If large area, hold it down with your palm till it is stuck. This will prevent further unwinding.
12. All these gluing tips are not required when you stabilize the beehive by encircling it like I did in quilled tree landscape.

Lanscape Quilling Graphic Quilled - Tree & Water

Quilling Landscapes and graphic quilling nature scenes have become a great favorite with me, since it gives me leeway to try out new techniques in order to create a painting like scene. I cannot paint and have never tried painting so this gives me a chance to practice my artistic skills.I usually quill flowers to break the monotony as I tend to get bored rather quickly!!

I have used beehive or what I call honeycomb quilling for the tree top whilst the branches and trunk are graphic quilled. I created two layers in parts of the canopy to get a 3d effect and the top layer is the lightest shade of green. There are three shades of green used in this whole piece.

This is a horizontal view of it

 I have used the grass I used in my previous quilled landscape, quilled tree , around the tree (dark green) and for the horizon trees, I used the foliage used in my waterfall landscape  and Lion share of love quilled cartoon.

The embankment grass is just like what I did in Bambi which is just folded paper pasted to depict grass.

Short blue and white strips  curled like waves went to create the water. You will be able to see it clearly if you click on the image as I have put a rather large image.

Tutorial for Graphic quilling is available here.

I enjoyed quilling this one and am happy with the way it turned out. Hope you like it too.

New Quilling Technique Tutorial - Compound Leaf

This tutorial is about quilling a compound leaf freehand with a single strip. I used the same technique for the white leaves I made for butterfly heart  but made them without the rachis.

This leaf is different in appearance from the leaf spray in my previous tutorial   in that it can be made with less number of leaflets so that it looks less dense apart from the fact that the size of the leaflets as you proceed down the leaf can be changed.

Step 1

Take a green strip and apply a tad of glue to the tip as shown above .

Step 2

Glue the edge to form a loop as shown above. This forms the terminal leaflet. Now fold the strip to the right as shown above.

Step 3

Loop the strip to form a leaflet to the right and paste it to mountain side of the fold, then fold the strip up to the left as shown above.

Step 4

Now loop to the left and paste it to the mountain side of the fold and then fold the strip down as shown above.

Step 5

Now go down the strip about 1cm or less for the rachis and then fold the strip to the right as shown above.

Step 6

Loop to the right and glue to the mountain side of the fold.

Step 7

now fold up and to the left once again as shown above, loop and glue to the mountain side. Repeat the process from step 5 and complete the leaf.

Black & White Quilled Dimensional Flower - Butterfly Heart

I quill 3d flower frames when I want to try out a new flower, so for this quilled floral design, I wanted to try out a layered flower using husking technique  and a simple butterfly using beehive or  honeycomb quilling.

I used a multi-strip heart on which I lay out quilled flowers and leaves.  I made the leaves slightly different from the leaf sprig in the tutorial since I didn't want a leaf sprig with stems. I have also used quilled roses and for the rose leaves I just made folded leaves like the ones I used in A Feathery Discussion.

Quilling Quick Tips & Tricks

This set of tips is based on what I discovered about basic quilling, however someone out there may have already blogged about it .

1. The strip has 2 sides. A smooth one and a rough one where the guillotine or shredder has pushed the edges in, whilst cutting it to strips. The side affects the unwind and in graphic quilling pasting the wrong side facing in  will give your work  a better appearance.

2. I think that running your thumb nail along the smooth side, making it curl with the smooth side inside and then twirling the coil with the rough side inside gives it a more uniform and better unwind. Try it and do what works best for you.

3. It is easy to quill with a toothpick and the coil looks much better with a tiny circular center, especially for making flowers. Slightly sharpen the narrower end  of the toothpick with a blade or knife to roughen it. Do not make the tip sharp as it can injure you. Lay the edge of the strip flat against your finger and roll the toothpick a wee bit so that the end curls around the tip of the toothpick .Then tighten this around the toothpick's sharpened end by rolling between your thumb and forefinger till it is wrapped tightly around the tip, then transfer your thumb to the top of the toothpick and hold the bottom edge of the strip with your forefinger and roll the toothpick as shown below.

Once completely done give it a quarter twist in the opposite direction, allow it to loosen slightly and flatten the top and drop it into my Tube tool and let it unwind and glue the end after rubbing your nail against the end of the strip to flatten it a bit.

4. I have found that making sure that the outer coils are equally spaced makes for better basic shapes. Uneven spacing messes things up, so make sure your coils unwind evenly, then glue it, make your  shapes and then allow them to unwind to equilibrium.

5. If you want swirly designs inside your shapes, make sure all the coils to the very center are pinched. Remember that all those swirls are formed because the coils is trying the achieve a stable state by either winding or unwinding. Also remember they will try to lie on the side towards the center. If you want design, manipulate the swirls and glue them.

Graphic Quilled Cartoon - Bambi Quilled Picture

I am extremely proud of this graphic quilled cartoon. I usually quill landscape style, that is using basic shapes to create the quilled picture, but I picked up enough courage to try doing it filled Yulia style with strips, but have tried to create my own style and I think it worked!!

I have previously tried graphic quilling Bambi like in this piece but did not have enough confidence to fill it. So this time I just jumped into the deep end and I'm thrilled at the results.
I just tore the strip into short pieces to represent hair and did a bit of bending and crushing to get the hair effect. I wanted it to look a bit curly since Bambi is a calf. Then I followed the normal rules of pencil art and where shadow was required I put in some black.

Graphic quilling tips on how this piece was done is here.

If you like this piece like I do please leave your comments.

Here's a larger image for those who want to see the details of how the strips have been pasted. I have outline bambi first, then pasted short strips to highlight the contours and  have added a few black strips where shadow was needed. the grass is just folded straight and pasted. I used a color image to get the sense of the picture.